The different Machu Picchu tours in Peru
Almost everyone who wants to travel to Peru will also look online for available Machu Picchu tours. And when you do this, you will find many, many options. But how do you pick the best Machu Picchu tour for yourself? For many travellers their best Machu Picchu tour will depend on their budget and the physical shape. Below I will give several tips that can help you to choose the best tour for you.
Important information about visiting Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is located at an altitude of 2400 meter, 8 km away from Aguas Calientes (2000 meter altitude). Aguas Calientes is now officially called Machu Picchu Pueblo) and can only be reached by train or on foot. From Aguas Calientes you can walk or take the tourist bus to the entrance of Machu Picchu. Entrance tickets for Machu Picchu you can buy online at a governmental website called: Tu Boleto.
Most Machu Picchu tours start at the entrance of Machu Picchu, where you will have to show your original passport. Since the first of January 2019 you are officially obligated to visit Machu Picchu with a certified guide. This guide can be held responsible for the behaviour of his/ her clients. However, even in 2024 it still seems to be possible to visit Machu Picchu without a guide. One of the reasons for this can be that these visitors first visited Machu Picchu with a guide and after their tour they went back in without their guide (with or without an extra entrance ticket). Officially they will then have to mention at the entrance of Machu Picchu who their guide was during their first visit of Machu Picchu. This way the management of Machu Picchu can still keep him/ her responsible for when these visitors don’t behave.
Different entrance times for Machu Picchu
Since 2017 the entrance to the archaeological site of Machu Picchu is divided in time slots of four hours each. Starting from 6:00 am in the morning until 15:00 hour in the afternoon. most people who join Machu Picchu tours are only allowed to stay for a max. of four hours on the archaeological site. However, guided tours over the archaeological site of Machu Picchu take in general between 2 till 3 hours. The exact time depends on your chosen walking route, the amount of visitors on the archaeological site (with many people, you will have to wait for your turn at the highlights, where guides explain you more about the structure you see in front of you) and your physical shape (some routes include many steps). If you want to spend more time exploring the archaeological site of Machu Picchu, you might consider buying two different entrance tickets for two different walking circuits.
10 Different walking circuits for Machu Picchu tours
It is important to know that the archaeological site of Machu Picchu is since 2024 split up in three main sections called: Circuito 1 – Panorámico, Circuito 2 – Clássico and Circuito 3 – Machu Picchu Realeza. These three different sections are again split up in 10 different walking routes, called:
– Ruta 1-A: Ruta Montaña Machu Picchu
– Ruta 1-B: Ruta Terraza Superior
– Ruta 1-C: Ruta Portada Intipunku (only in high season)
– Ruta 1-D: Ruta Puente Inka (only in high season
– Ruta 2-A: Ruta Clásico Diseñada
– Ruta 2-B: Ruta Terraza inferior
– Ruta 3-A: Ruta Montaña Waynapicchu
– Ruta 3-B: Ruta Realeza diseñada
– Ruta 3-C: Ruta Gran Caverna (only in high season)
– Ruta 3-D: Ruta Huchuypicchu
From these ten options Ruta 2-B is the most extensive and most popular walking route. Tickets for Ruta 2-B will be the first to be sold out. So when you buy your Machu Picchu tour with a travel agency, it is important to ask them which walking routes on Machu Picchu are still available. People who prefer to climb as few steps as possible might consider buying a Machu Picchu ticket for Ruta 3-B.
Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu tours
The most popular Machu Picchu tours combine visiting the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in two days and one night. The tour departs from Cuzco towards the archaeological site of Pisaq in the Sacred valley. After a guided visit over the archaeological site, you travel down to the town of Pisac, where you can bring a short visit to its colourful market. From Pisac the tour continues towards the slopes of the Sacred Valley where the Salineras salt pans from the Maras civilization are located (only with private tours). After a short visit of Salineras the tour continues back into the valley to one of the many tourist restaurants in, or close to Urubamaba. After lunch (buffet) it takes around half an hour to reach the town of Ollantaytambo, where you will visit the archaeological site of Ollantaytambo before taking the train to Aguas Calientes (now officially called Machu Picchu Pueblo). You will spend one night in a hotel of choice in Aguas Calientes and the next day you get up very early to take one of the buses from Aguas Calientes to the entrance of Machu Picchu (8 km). The first bus departs at 5:20 am, but the departure time of your bus depends on the entrance time slot on your Machu Picchu ticket. Upon arriving at Machu Picchu, you will start your guided tour over the archaeological site. Officially the guide is responsible for his/ her clients, so you will have enter and leave again with him/ her. However, you can always try to stay a little longer, as long as you don’t overstay your time slot. From Machu Picchu most people take the tourist bus back down to Aguas Calientes, however, if you have time, I recommend to walk down the hiking trail. Not so much because it will save you 12 US$ on a single bus ticket, but more because the jungle scenery is pretty. Easy going, it takes between an hour to 75 minutes to walk back to Aguas Calientes. Then you take the train back to Ollantaytambo, or Poroy and a bus or private transport to Cuzco.
The one day Machu Picchu tour
Because of limited time, some tourists want to visit Machu Picchu in just one day from Cuzco and back. This is understandable. With the new regulations, most visitors spend on average only around three hours on the archaeological site of Machu Picchu. Therefore,, even with a one day tour, you don’t mis out on time at the site of Machu Picchu. However, these tours often arrive a bit later on the archaeological site of Machu Picchu, when it is already busier.
Machu Picchu treks
From Cuzco you can also start different Inca Trails, or Machu Picchu treks. The best known treks are called: The Classic 4 Day Inca Trail, The Inca Jungle Trail, The Lares Trek and the Salkantay Trek. From these four treks only the Classic 4 Day Inca Trail really ends at Machu Picchu. There is also a shorter version, called the 2 Day Inca Trail. This trek used to be really 2 days of hiking, but is now only one day of hiking and one day of visiting Machu Picchu. The Inca Jungle Trail and the Salkantay Trek both end in Aguas Calientes, before visiting Machu Picchu on the last day. The Lares Trek ends up in Ollantaytambo, before continuing to Machu Picchu by train and bus.
Last advice about visiting Machu Picchu
Since the Covid Pandemic it seems that there has been a change in priorities among tourists who travel to Peru. Before the pandemic most people travelled to Peru to see the Nazca Lines, Colca Canyon, Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu. Now it seems that many tourists are only worried about their Machu Picchu tours in combination with the Rainbow Mountain and maybe Laguna Humantay… Of course, all three of those are great destinations, but Peru is huge and has so much more cultural, natural and even culinary highlights to offer. If you only travel to Peru to see Machu Picchu, you will miss out on a lot!
